Fenced well

The fenced fountain has been a source in the community forest of Helmstadt-Bargen in the Rhein-Neckar district , but in the district of Obrigheim in the Neckar-Odenwald district . From 1923 to 1976 it served the water supply of Kälbertshausen , which has been incorporated into Hüffenhardt since 1975 .

location

The fenced fountain is located in the forest on the Obrigheim district, south of the confluence of the K 3942 with the L 590 near the boundary to Kälbertshausen at an altitude of 333 meters above sea level and thus only 20 meters below the highest point of the district. The fountain belongs to the headwaters of the Wollenbach .

history

The forest was once part of the Wimpfener Wildbann and came as part of the Palatinate Kameralwald in 1803 to the princes of Leiningen , who sold it to the state of Baden-Württemberg in the 1970s . Through an exchange, the part with the fenced well of the forest, which extends over several localities, came into the possession of the municipality of Helmstadt-Bargen.

The fountain was already used in Roman times to irrigate the cleared meadows in the Kälbertshauser Gewann Seitenrain , which were managed by a villa rustica in the Gewann Steinhaus . In the Middle Ages, the fountain was then a landmark that was used to mark territorial boundaries and as a waypoint. The Wimpfener Strasse , a branch of the Hohen Strasse from the Rhine to Central Germany, which is important as a trade route , was first mentioned in 1584 and led past the fountain. Several historical landmarks from the setting of the Palatinate forest property in 1588 up to the 19th century in the immediate vicinity of the fountain testify to the historical boundary lines of the modern era, and numerous descriptions of the Palatinate borders refer to the source.

Due to its importance, the spring was fenced in centuries ago, which is what gave it its current name.

The forest administration of the princes of Leiningen set up a seed school by the fenced well in the 19th century. At that time the spring was contained with a square basin and had a wooden cover. The spring also served to supply the nearby forester's house with water, and the well overflow was diverted into the valley. In addition, the well was also traced with carts to Kälbertshausen water where the old village well for reasons of hygiene were not allowed to be used and the south of the village located Bergbrunnen dried up in dry summers. After all, before the First World War there were plans to use the well to build a water supply for Kälbertshausen. The maximum discharge from the spring was then 0.5 liters per second; in the dry summer of 1911, the discharge fell to 0.02 liters per second. The well was considered sufficient for a water supply, especially since it did not at least completely dry out in summer and its water did not carry any plaster or lime particles with it even in heavy rain. In addition, because of its location in the forest, no water protection zone was necessary. However, the outbreak of war initially prevented the construction plans from being implemented.

In 1915 there were disputes about the use of the spring and the maintenance of the well socket, as the well was heavily strained by the water haulers from Kälbertshausen. The Mosbach district office ordered the Kälbertshausen community to put the well in order.

In 1922 the cultural building authority in Mosbach presented new plans for a water supply for Kälbertshausen. Following these plans, the fenced well was expanded into a two-chamber well room. In addition, one no longer relied entirely on the filling of the well to cover the annual average of 0.25 liters per second, which is why the Heiligenbrunnen , which was also owned by the Princes of Leiningen at the time, was located in the Mörtelstein district and its water was poured over Pumping station, a height difference of 140 meters and an approximately 2 km long line to the fenced well. The collected water then went to Kälbertshausen via another pipe. The total cost was around 55,000 marks; the facility was completed in 1923. The princes of Leiningen waived payment for the water rights, but in return handed over the burden of building the half church tower in Kälbertshausen to the community.

The fenced well remained the basis of Kälbertshausen's water supply until the place was connected to the network of the Mühlbach water supply group in 1976. Since then, the fountain's overflow has been used to feed an ornamental fountain in a nearby private leisure facility.

literature

• Eckhard Hoffmann: The "Fenced Well". A small source with a great past . In: Badische Heimat 2004. Heimatkalender for Neckartal, Odenwald, Bauland and Kraichgau , Heidelberg 2004, pp. 211–216.